In
this section of our web site Otto and the Little’un aim to bring you the low
down on the best scooping pub’s and bars around the globe that we have visited
over the years. We have started with some of our favourites of the last few
years and hope they will be of interest to fellow “beer tourist”.

We aim to add
more as time allows and we get to grips with this “WWW” stuff.

Zlý Časy meaning "Evil Times" is a brick-lined cellar with up to 38 guest beers on tap usually including Kácov or Kocour. One tap is generally reserved for Matouska, the personal brewery of Martin Matouska who is the brewer at Strahov. We have been here many times now. When we first visited it was just a brick cellar bar but with great atmosphere, no tourists at all? Now it has 3 bars on 3 levels and 2 kitchens.

The top bar is stylish and has a choice of beers from all over the world approx 10 on tap,The cellar bar very cosy and most of the beers are from the Czech Republic also the bottle fridges are downstairs. The fridges hold a wide range of beers, not all Czech. One is dedicated to German beers and one to beers of the world. The central bar is quite large and has an open kitchen, plus a small outside seating area for smokers. With different beers on all the floor dose this make it the Best bar in Prague? Yes if you look at the selection, when you’re a fellow beergeek!

Also of note are the prices, on average 40% cheaper than at the Privovarsky Klub. Overall the bar is a a very good place to spend a relaxing few hours. Be warned, though, it gets full really quickly in the early evening, so get in early to avoid disappointment or better still reserve a table. Also don’t expect the staff to speak English, brush up on your Czech. Click HERE to check out some useful phrases.

Quite easy to get there, on the either tram 11 or 18, it’s just along the road from Náměstí Bratří Synků‎ tramstop. At Čestmírova 5, Nusle.

This cellar bar is by far the best I have visited in Prague, with an eclectic choice of guest beers. It's fairly close to the Bašta brewpub which is just 2 tram stops further along the line and this makes for a good trip out to Nusle

Situated at 456 Main Street, Wakefield,. Rhode Island 02879, The Mews Tavern is a rambling place with 69 draught brews available and a great menu backed-up with a solid staff of professionals. There is a superb representation of beers, mainly local (New England) and respectable regional with a fairly nice international offering. I make it a priority with each visit to Rhode Island.

The Mews has an amusing and interesting bar area with various dining booths and tables. Dollar bills all over the tap room ceiling and walls. (We did a dollar can you find it?) This is a must do destination for beer enthusiasts.

A long line of tap handles runs the length of the bar. As there is no real signage promoting the available beers, grab one of the handy beer menus for quicker consideration. Get a “rack” of six samples in 6oz glasses or go for a pint of something interesting you won’t be disappointed either way, as there are always some true gems available that you are not likely to find elsewhere, in the state. Plus they usually have a few from Dogfish Head as well as twenty or so seasonal beers on tap.

For those of you who aren’t into your beer there are two hundred single malt whiskeys, thirty tequilas, forty rums and thirty varieties of vodka, which make the Mews Tavern an adult-playground for barflies. Simply walking around the place is an adventure, as the pub meanders up and down stairs, through a series of distinctly decorated rooms and nooks.

The tavern is split into several rooms that cater to every form of drinker. There is a martini bar, a main dining room for families, which has a large tree in the centre of it and of course the darker pub for beer drinkers. Every time I visit the pub there is something new. The atmosphere is quiet in the designated dining areas. But for the pub goers focused on consuming their drink of choice the tap room bar is a must, grab a beer menu and watch a ball game on one of the bar’s televisions. What better way of spending an afternoon contemplating the world? Upstairs there is now the Celtic Bar which is a live music venue.

The Mews also respects the wallet of its beer loving customers. On the first Wednesday of every month the pub offers Pint Night where customers keep the pint glass in which the featured beer is served were they have drunk three pints.

Also a point of interest when it originally opened in 1947 it was a men only cocktail bar!

You can find this excellent drinking establishment
at 228
Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, New York United States 11201. No pretentions
here, a double fronted building which you could easily mistake for a shop. A Cosy, friendly, comfortable place, it
comprises of one large room that is dominated by the long wooden bar that more
or less runs the length of the room with two seating areas in the window alcoves
and a small beer garden/patio area to the rear.

Great
place to hang out, usually on the quiet side. There are 15 taps with draught beers from some
of the better Craft-Micro breweries of the US. They always have a cask ale or
two, and their cask festivals, thrice annually, are awesome and not to be
missed, usually organised by Alex Hall (the cask ale guru of NYC).

While
there’s no food menu available, they do put out free wings on Mondays and
cheese and crackers on Wednesdays. Also Lou
the owner will put some food out usually, from a local restaurant, which is
quite generous to attract peckish happy hour and Sunday drinkers.

Friendly service, good prices though and they
have a real commitment to cask ale. It’s a great place with a terrific atmosphere
that is more a of locals pub than a beer-tourist destination.

A
corner bar, located at 281 Bleecker St. New York, 10014, that is very compact, with every inch of space
for sitting or standing. It’s very basic
and totally unostentatious. The beer
list is no doubt one of the best New York has to offer at any given time. There are over 30 beer taps and regular
brewery tasting events, usually on a Wednesday and they always feature a crazy amount
of beers from whoever they bring in, 30 Goose Island beers on the day we
visited. Added to which there are 2 or 3
beers on gravity and hand pump, usually from Sixpoint Brewing, over the water
in Brooklyn. Yet another US Pub
committed to cask conditioned beer.

It’s
advisable to get in before 4pm if you want to get seats and avoid being
crushed. The place was teeming with American
“Scoopers, Tickers and Home Brewers”. We
got chatting to a few of them, and all were knowledgeable and enthusiastic
about the craft brewing scene in the US and the UK.

With
so many beers to choose from its best to try a variety of “small pours”, 6oz
glasses, especially as very few of the US beers come in under 5% abv. The bottle list and vintage bottle lists are
very impressive most of the times but the prices can be pretty steep.

The Bartenders are very friendly, knowledgeable and informative, they
are happy to talk beer with you, and give good advice on the beer choices
available. The Tiger also has an extensive food menu, which can be found on the
blackboards around the walls.

We could have done with a couple of extra days just to sample all that
was on offer, and a return visit will definitely be in the offing in the near
future. Most certainly one of New York’s
best and a must visit.